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What is love: Feeling, Utility, Power?

A best seller book of Dr. Brian L. Weiss is named as “Only Love Is Real”. The book speaks about the journey of souls for love. In a poem Swami Vivekananda said that all his lifelong Sadhana points only towards love, love is the essence of all. Many speak about loving God or Guru; some say love is Ultimate God.

We all know love as a feeling; we all love someone or other, parent, children, spouse....... We care for them, are worried if anything goes wrong with them, do everything in our power to keep them comfortable. We start loving unconditionally and without expectation. Usually we receive more care than we give. Problem arises when, over time, we expect them to do our bidding and they fail to fulfil our anticipation. Ocean of love dries into a puddle of utilitarian value.

Sometimes we love something else also like a rewarding job or family honour or the like. Remember, for the name of the family, family members are killed or dishonoured or disinherited! People kill or get killed in the name of love. Busy professionals tend to ignore their compassionate family for the prospect or love of job. We can find varied examples from daily life.

All these are mere attachment or obsession, not love in my opinion.

Brihadaranyak Upnishad says that we love parent, spouse, sibling, children........just because we love ourselves. We love only the self and anyone or anything that fulfils that love. Whatever we do to them is only to satisfy us, not them. It’s true for many of us. It needs very little introspection to say that to play a self sacrificing role for long, with no immediate hope for gain is stressful job. I hope counsellors will vouch for this statement.

What is love then? Love is the POWER which still keeps us going, to make one more effort, to let go of selfishness one more time, to forgive once again, to get propelled towards duty yet again........even where nothing to achieve.

We exercise this power on a daily basis, in different situation. Love is the power which makes people to work for the humanity. Those seekers who are taking care to read through the quarries and answer on the pages of Speaking Tree are doing out of love. Doctors, counsellors, various NGOs are doing commendable work just out of compassion. Once i had visited Cheshire Home, a home for disabled children; i mean disable and not differently able. I had seen how much effort is being put by the Mother (caretakers are called mother there) for the comfort of those physically and mentally retarded children who were abandoned by their biological mother. Love is the only bond which unites people from various stratum of the society.

So basically Love is union, Love is Oneness. We all are just the droplets in The Ocean of love. Enlightened souls like Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ, and Mother Teresa are Love personified.